Contents of the EGARISK.DOC file

This is a graphics-strategy game for the IBM PC or compatible for two to six players ala RISK from Parker Brothers, Inc. RISK is registered and protected by law by Parker Brothers, Inc. No attempt has been made on the part of the author to replace or detract from the original board game.

This game runs on the IBM PC, XT, AT or compatible with at least 384K of memory and an Enhanced Graphics Adapter (EGA) with 256K of video memory. The game was first developed on the PCjr, and this is the adaption of that game for the PC and EGA.

This game took over two years of work to complete. If you find it enjoyable, a small contribution of $ 10 would be very much appreciated. This donation would automatically entitle you to update notices whenever a new version is made. To get the new version, you would need only to send a disk and a self-addressed, stamped disk mailer and I would send you thenew version.

In supporting public domain authors, you are helping everyone who benefits from the public domain by encouraging us to put more out programs.

THANK YOU ! Please send contributions to:

Russell Fleming 1222 Tiegen Dr. Hayward, CA 94542

The Object of the Game ======================== The object of the game is to conquer the world. This is an ambitious game that requires thought and cunning. By arranging armies to defend and attack, and by rolling the dice ( through computer simulation ) to defend and attack, battles are won and lost.

Starting a Game ================= The game starts with the hello screen and askes if you want to start a new game or restore a game off the disk. To start a new game, just enter the number of players that will be playing. Then the players will enter their names and the color of their armies.

The territories will then be dealt out randomly and the players will take turns deploying their men. One player deployes his or her armies at a time, and when all armies are deployed each player has the opportunity to re-arrange his or her men.

When all the men are deployed and all the players are satisfied with the army emplacments, then the game will pick a player at random to start the attack.

The Attack ============ The attacker may attack as many times as he or she wants to, providing that the attacker has enough armies to attack. The attack is started when the attacker enters an ATTACK COMMAND. The command is made up of the attacking territory name and the defending territory name ( it may be thought of as 'Attacking from here to there' ). When the attacker enters a valid ATTACK COMMAND, then the dice are rolled and the loser gets a man taken off the losing territory.

If all the men are killed on the defending territory, it now becomes the property of the attacker and he or she moves some of the armies from the attacking territory to the newly defeated territory. This is why to attack you need at least 2 armies on the attacking territory.

When the attacker wants to stop attacking, or when he or she has not enough armies to attack, ( that is, if none of the attackers territories that touch an opponent has two or more armies on it ) then the attacker COUNTS UP. This formally ends the attack.

The Count Up ============== When the attack is finished, the Command COUNT is given at the command line and the game determines the number of bonus armies to be given to the attacker to replenish and defend his territories. The game counts up all the attackers armies and divides that number by three. This is the number of bonus armies. The attacker may put these on any of his territories.

Also, If the attacker has any continents ( more on continents later ), that belong entirely to him, then he gets bonus armies for this.

The continents are bordered by other continents by double lines where they touch and by the usual dashed lines over ocean. They are not intended to be geographically accurate. Where they border and do not touch ( like Greenland and Iceland - A5 and E1 ) you can tell by the territory number which continent the territory belongs on.

The number of armies on the territory can be seen usually bordered by a dark square. This depends on the players color, though. A dark color will not leave much of a box. Watch when the board is being drawn, the numbers that are there first are the territory numbers, the others are the army numbers.

When a valid ATTACK COMMAND is entered, the game rolls the dice and displays them in the South Atlantic. The top row are the attacker's dice and the bottom is the defender's. The loser gets an army taken off. If the loser is the attacker and he now only has one army left, then he is not asked if he wants to attack again. If the loser is the defender and has no armies on his territory, then the territory now belongs to the attacker and the attacker puts some armies from the attacking territory on it. This is how territories are gained and the game won.

Functions Supported by the Game: ==================================

1 : Statistics on players

2 : Redraw of board on screen

3 : Save and retrieve a game

4 : Change the background color and palette

5 : Master control over game parameters ( Number of armies on a territory, Territory ownership, Reviving dead players or Surrendering to another player )

Statistics ------------ Format : STAT Entered as the ATTACK COMMAND

For each player, this shows the number of armies killed by the player and the number of armies that have been lost by the player, and the average die roll. Also, the Win-to-Loss ratio is displayed. This is a good indication of how well a player is doing. If the Win-to-Loss ratio is less than 1, then the player is losing more than he is winning, and had better worry !

This redraws the board. This is useful if input is made in a way that the computer doesn't like and wrecks the screen. If this happens, just input the information, don't worry about the board. After you are done inputting, use the BOARD command as the ATTACK COMMAND and the board will be restored to normal.

Save Game ----------- Format : SAVE Entered as the ATTACK COMMAND

This saves a copy of all the board settings and player statistics. The game will ask for a game number to identify that game. If you want to see a directory of games on the disk, type a slash ( / ) and hit enter. Enter a number for the game and hit enter. This will save the game at that time for later retrieval.

This restores an already saved game from the disk. Enter the game number to restore or a slash ( / ) for a directory of games available. The game in progress will be lost when a new game is restored, so be carefull.

This command brings up a sub-menu of choices. They can change the number of armies on a territory, change who owns what territory, change which player is the attacker, bring back a player who has been killed off, or allow a player to surrender his armies and territories to another player.

Just hit the number of the desired action and enter the desired information. Take care in use of this operation, it exists only to correct mistakes made by players or to facilitate negotiations between players. It should not be used for cheating, or else your conscience will plauge you forever and your hair will fall out and clog your disks !!

Other Functions -----------------

There are two other functions supported by the game. They use the function keys to togle the sound on and off, and to interrupt the action of the game at any point. They are:

F1 : Return game control to Command line ( Be careful using this, it can leave some things uncompleted ! )

F5 : Toggle the sound On or Off The game starts with Sound On

Quitting The Game ------------------- Format : QUIT Entered as the ATTACK COMMAND

This ends the game before there is a winner. This is usually done after the game has been saved, or ( in rare cases ) when peace has been declared by the players.

Some Notes to RISK Board Game Players --------------------------------------- There are some fundemental and minor changes made to the standard rules of the board game:

-- The count up comes at the end of the turn

-- The count up counts the number of armies, not the number of territories a player has.

-- Only one army is taken off at a time, regardless of how many die are rolled.

In the fourteen years that I have played RISK, everybody that I've met has had different rules to this game. These are mine, and if you are used to something different, they may take a little getting used to. I hope you will enjoy this game.